IMHO, it will be a travesty and a miscarriage of justice if Grant is convicted of anything other than First degree murder.

Grant has lied from day one, and some of his answers to questions have been unreal. For example:

When asked if he heard about the Candace Derksen case, he replied "No." The case was the most well known missing persons case in the history of Winnipeg. Everyone that was born before 1980 has to know about this case. He was 21 at the time, and living near where she was abducted.

Secondly, he claimed never to have heard of the Nairn Overpass. Everyone in the city knows where the Nairn Overpass is, as it is one of Winnipeg's most well known infrastructure landmark. He lived in Winnipeg his whole life, lived blocks away from the overpass, and claims he never heard of it???

Finally, he was living in a tent beside the Higgins Avenue CPR tracks, a 5 minute car ride from where Candace was abducted. He was living with a 13 year old girl at the time. He had a lengthy history of sex crimes, to the point of being declared a dangerous offender.

I am happy for this family. But I have to say, it is a sad day when he may only get 10 years for the life of a little girl who he left there to freeze to death. And, he has a past history. 10 years? Seriously? I guess we want to give him a chance to do it again some day?

I'm glad that this guilty verdict will help Candace's family move ahead with their lives.

They always say a picture is worth a thousand words. I've posted a picture of Wilma and Cliff Derksen outside the courtroom yesterday, after the verdict was read.

By DEAN PRITCHARD, QMI Agency

Last Updated: February 18, 2011 10:22pmEmail Story Print Size A A A Report Typo

Wilma and Cliff Derksen outside the courtroom after Mark Grant was found guilty of second degree murder in the death of Candace Derksen more than twenty years ago. (Chris Procaylo, QMI Agency) WINNIPEG - After 26 years, a five-week trial and three days of tension filled deliberations, Wilma and Cliff Derksen finally know who killed their daughter Candace.

"We never thought there would be any resolution to that mystery of 26 years," Wilma said late Friday night before a throng of reporters outside court. "We're totally amazed."

Candace, 13, disappeared while walking home from Mennonite Brethren Collegiate Institute on Nov. 30, 1984. Her frozen body was discovered six weeks later in a tool shed at Alsip's Industrial Products, near the Nairn Avenue overpass. Her wrists and ankles had been tied behind her back with twine.

Wilma said a second-degree murder conviction was no less satisfying. "I think the jury was tremendously courageous in their decision," she said. "They did a fantastic job in putting that all together."

Wilma said the trial answered questions about Candace's last hours that have remained a mystery for decades.

"It's amazing to me how healing those answers are," she said. "The way the story has come together has completed us in a way I never expected. We are starting afresh. The last five weeks have changed us in a good way. I'm calling it my million-dollar therapy."

The case against Grant hinged on DNA connected to seven hairs found at the murder scene and on the twine used to bind Derksen's limbs -- DNA the Crown said positively linked Grant to the killing.

At the same time Simmonds was arguing the Crown couldn't prove Grant's DNA was found at the crime scene he provided seemingly innocent explanations for how it could have been left there. Simmonds said there was no evidence to prove Grant never worked at Alsip's or that he might have handled the twine while making sandbags for flood relief.

Crown attorney Brian Bell urged jurors to ignore such "red herrings."

"Please don't speculate on what you don't know, focus on what you do know," Bell said Wednesday in his closing address to jurors.

Saturday, the Derksens will visit Candace's gravesite.

"We'll lay down roses and we are going to cry again and we are going to move on. Start something new. Start a new life," Wilma said.

Jurors deliberating Grant's fate did so with no knowledge of his violent criminal past, which included three convictions for rape in the past 23 years.

Grant will be sentenced at a later date to life in prison. The only question to decide is when he will be eligible for parole.

This is outrageous that this man was not convicted long before now. They must have known he was a sex offender at that time. What a horrendous ordeal for Candace and the way she died. This is something that will haunt her parents until they die. It is so very sad to think of what monsters are out there every day watching and waiting to violate and torture children.

He should get the 25 years, he is one dangerous individual and he is still a young man. He should be serving the time. He did the crime and he should do the time. Just because it took years to get to him doesn't mean he shouldn't pay for it. I don't know how these people can really forgive someone who did that and it is good that they can, because they say it is easier on the person to forgive then to live with the anger inside. God bless her parents who have gone through so many years of waiting for justice.

He said the appeal can only happen after the sentencing process, set for next month, has been completed.

"The jury has left [Grant] very disappointed in their verdict. Obviously, from our perspective, the matter will have to go further," Simmonds said.

The supply shed near the Nairn Overpass where Candace Derksen's frozen body was found on Jan. 17, 1985. (CBC) After an emotional and at times complex five-week trial, a jury weighed the evidence for two days before convicting Grant, 47, of second-degree murder on Friday evening.

He faced a first-degree murder charge, but the seven-man, five-woman jury found him not guilty in favor of convicting him of the lesser offence.

Derksen was found hog-tied and frozen to death on the dirt floor of a rarely-used supply shed in a brickyard about 500 metres from her family home on Jan. 13, 1985.

She vanished off the street while walking home from school on Nov. 30, 1984. Her disappearance triggered a massive community search, and struck fear into the hearts of many that a predator was on the loose.

Derksen's death remained a public mystery until May 2007 when police came forward with new forensic evidence linking Grant to the murder scene.

Jurors did not make a recommendation to the court about when he may be eligible for parole.

The second-degree murder conviction carries with it no chance of parole for a minimum of 10 years, but the court could elect to raise that as high as 25 years.

I say raise his parole eligibility to 25 years. He has already been declared a dangerous offender, and will be locked away until he is in his late 60's. He is a predatory animal who has shown no remorse for his victims.